Follow Us On

Login



“We
should consider every day lost in which we have not danced at least once.” – F.
Nietzsche



“Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from
the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with
ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance
with the pen?”- F. Nietzsche

Links

Check out the New Existentialists site: the latest in existential psychology here

Mystery, Uncertainty, and Death in the Ural Mountains, Part I.

Alina Sotskova

01/15/2014 04:48PM

Part I: Addicted to Mystery?

Mystery is typically something that eludes our human
understanding, something that can’t be explained fully. Maybe it is a bit of an
enigma, getting a whiff of the forbidden fruit without getting the full taste.
Mysteries fascinate and attract us: this attraction is part of the reason we have
movements like science, which strive, above all, to solve mysteries just for
the sake of solving them. A mystery can be as simple as a beginner-level Sudoku
puzzle or it can be something as complicated as the origin of species.
Regardless of the type of mystery or its simplicity-complexity, it seems to
give people pleasure to investigate mysteries and to solve them. This is quite
curious, because we never really want to solve all mysteries, it seems. Once we
solve one, we immediately want another. It is the chase, the process of solving
the mystery, that seems most attractive to people, not the actual solution.
While there may be a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in the moment when you solve your
mystery, it usually comes with an unbounded yearning for the next one.
Intuititevely, people in the business of selling experience know this. Video
games are built on this premise – you must solve the puzzle or pass the
challenge to get to the next level and the next, and so on. Once you’ve
demystified all the levels, you are ready for a new game.

I
have this sense that if we were to solve all the mysteries in the world (let’s
just pretend that’s possible), we would be left terribly bored, unstimulated,
perhaps even terrified at our boredom. Religion is a source of an unsolvable
mystery for many, which is really quite brilliant as far as a puzzle goes. You
accept that the mystery can’t be solved (here “God works in mysterious ways” is
quite apropos), but you spend your entire life trying to understand the
mystery, whether it is scripture, or specific teachings, or symbolism
associated with that religion. But, with religion being on the decline in the
current American and Canadian climates, what other mysteries people get
attached to when they do not wish to or cannot connect to a spiritual mystery? Here’s
one example.

Recently
I learned about a mysterious event associated with the “Dyatlov’s Pass” that
took place in Ural mountains in Soviet Russia in 1959. Nine hikers were found
dead under most peculiar circumstances. They had cut their tent open from the
inside, and issued forth into -20C or so weather, most of them wearing little clothing
and no shoes. All the hikers had internal injuries, like fractured skulls or
broken ribs, yet no bruising, cuts, on contusions on their soft tissue. Some of
their clothing tested positive for traces of radiation. In the snow, there were
no other footprints but those of the hikers and no sign of a struggle, despite
the fact that one of the hikers was missing their eyes and tongue. Other
strange details abounded and the mystery was never solved. It immediately drew
my attention because I am from the former Soviet Union and because...well, I
confess, I love a good (murder) mystery! I began to scour the internet for
clues as I did not plan to travel to Ural to try to solve this. A theory began
to spin in my mind. It was exciting, interesting, and I spend much time
thinking about it over the course of a few days.

I
don’t have an answer for this mystery. There are some sources on the internet
that claim that they do, and present their theories, from aliens to avalanches.
To me, I know that it does not even particularly matter what my theory is. What
matters is that, most likely, this mystery will never be solved, simply due to
the fact that it happened in 1959 and most of evidence collected by Soviet officials
is gone or inaccessible. Not that they had complex forensics to collect
evidence in the first place. What does this mean to me? That means that as I
age, my mind will likely return to this mystery from time to time, ponder it,
feel it out, refine my theory, and then let it go again as something I cannot
solve. The beauty is that I can keep enjoying the process of “solving” it in my
mind. And I am not alone. There have been many people who have been fascinated
by this event, written books, produced films, spun their webs of theories. Why?
It will not bring the hikers back. Now, in 2013, it will not change the lives
of people living in Ural. Even if the solution presented itself, likely it
would have no practical significance.

Except
that we could no longer ponder on the “what if?” and the “but maybe...” The
process of solving mysteries is addictive in its excitement, its draw.

Nothing
is less exciting than something that is totally known. The excitement of
presents? Usually the element the surprise and mystery more so than the
present. Not to make an epistemological pun, but it seems to me that people
often do not even know they are seeking mystery. So you have one example –
deaths, real life deaths in the cold north of Soviet Russia, as a mystery, and
people all over the world being drawn to it. But what other kinds of mysteries
do we pursue? Television shows try to give us a sense of mystery, but you
always must keep watching more and more, because the mystery is revealed for
you, the thinking is done for you, and you do not get the excitement of
building your own theory. You just have to passively watch the mystery unfold
as some crudely unrealistic forensic investigators make their case.

Sometimes
seeking mystery can take form of possessing objects of mystery. What is the
most mysterious object you possess? Perhaps it’s your phone. Do you know how it
works? Do you know what enables it to communicate with others over great
distances, take pictures, play videos? For most of us, the answer to that is,
“no, I have no idea how it does that” (and I probably never will). So although
you may not strive to solve The Mystery of the Smartphone, its magical-like
qualities (i.e., it does things you want it to do, but like a lighter for a
pre-fire savage, its mechanics are beyond your understanding) make you its
Possessor. Being a possessor of the mysterious object may be just as exciting
as being its investigator.

In
fact, our technological project appears to be based on a thirst for mystery
(along with some other things, like competitiveness, social comparison,
loneliness, etc.) We want the next mysterious object that the company promises
is even more mysterious, even more
magical than the one you have. Who can resist?

Mystery is our idol. But, having
lost the mystery of communal religion, are we looking for mysteries in the
right places, or are we looking for mysteries in places where we will only get
the cheap knockoff? Uncertainty is part of mystery, yet we are often terrified of
uncertainty and love mystery. How can that be?

Welcome! much obliged to you for welcoming me ideal here. i found such a great deal of exciting thoughts here. You're composing style could be spotless and i truly appreciate to perusing your posts. https://www.assignmenthelperuk.co.uk you have distributed article with splendidly



ashu sharma 08/13/2018 12:20AM



Hey guys if you want best website to get roblox for free onlline then must try http://robloxrobuxtix.com/ its gives best amazing adventures game ever.



martha 10/27/2018 05:26AM



Magnificent read, Positive site, where did u think of the data on this posting? I have perused a couple of the articles on your site now, and I extremely like your style. You rock and please keep up the https://www.glamourjackets.com/b3-men-jacket-with-fur successful work